Didn’t really see this coming, but 6th in Top 10 for best Beer Destinations in the WORLD?
Asheville is the obvious leader in our state.
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Pleasantly surprised that our ranking seems to have nothing to do with the Beer Garden, or it at least wasn’t even mentioned in the article.
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I’m not sure we should be too excited about that article. I mean how doesn’t a city in Belgium not make that list? 
I think this was a top ten of so-called “under-rated” cities or “off the radar” cities, so it naturally excludes the places we would immediately think of…
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Educational attainment is a metric in which Raleigh really excels. I’d love to see a campaign built around Smart+______ (fill in the blank). This would allow Raleigh to market itself around various topics while keeping a consistent thread. I think that it would be fairly easy to tie back almost anything to the word smart if one is clever.
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I think it’s a good idea to keep that consistent -but potentially flexible- thread! From a branding perspective, that’s easy to rally around without coming across as too forced.
I do want to point out that we (both as “people who care about Raleigh” and as citizens in general) have to be really careful about how we go about using that line, though; otherwise, it’s all too easy to make that tongue-in-cheek. For example, state political pundits could all-too-easily be like “Raleigh is smart + racist” in describing the GOP’s voter suppression tactics (and they’re not wrong, since Raleigh is also the capital).
Also, I want to point out an important observation as someone who’s Chapel Hill/Durham-based: I’ve been talking to a lot of longtime residents, artists, shopowners etc. in Downtown Durham lately, and one perception I kept hearing over and over again is that Raleigh is “bland” or “soulless”.
Not as in “there’s nothing there/there’s no personality to Raleigh” (they concede to that quickly when I counter with things like the Warehouse District, Dix Park, Red Hat, Glenwood South, North Hills etc.), but in the same way that many younger people of color dismiss white culture.
From this side of the Triangle, it seems like Raleigh is not represented by downtown, and North Hills or Dix is definitely not its stereotypical image… but instead, “Raleigh” conjures up images of Cary and Brier Creek. The western half of the Triangle sees in Wake County a suburbian free-for-all, a libertarian/NIMBY utopia with a slightly-less-intimidating beltway, and a local culture that doesn’t have a genuine historical heritage or organic/grassroots culture. (i.e. concerts and art shows go to Raleigh, but more shows, sociopolitical movements, artists etc. seem to grow from Durham)
Despite it all, Raleigh is unquestionably smart and ambitious… but is there a way to use this “Smart + ____” idea to show that this city has a soul? Character?
I like the idea of Raleigh being pictured as a “smart” city, but we need to be careful to not be “stuck in our heads” in doing so.
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Hahaha!!! Great picture of somewhere!! 
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Maybe that’s Raleigh with the Capital Blvd canal ?
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I’m pretty sure this is Durham, UK.
Raleigh “I get no respect, no respect I tell ya” - Durham
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I hadn’t heard about the canal. That would be awesome! And never happen! Lol
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We probably could start an entire thread with references to Raleigh with photos of Cary, Durham, or even this one in the UK! 
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I wish that Raleigh would brand itself better too. I work downtown and more than half the time I don’t even know what events are happening downtown or who is at the Convention Center. It seems like they should invest in some digital signage in several areas downtown that let us know what is happening around Raleigh. Maybe allow some advertisers to help pay for it or however they want to handle it.
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I love this idea! I also live downtown and subscribe to several newsletters and put forth effort to find events (Facebook, Offline Media, etc) but I’d love to see digital signage to bring more awareness to the incredible series of events we have in the area. It would be good for those daily commuters and increase exposure to our scene for visitors as well!
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…so like those Ike electronic kiosks that City Council shot down?
Reminder: Leo wrote a thing about this too.
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lol…exactly like those kiosks…smh.
Does anybody remember this rendering of the City Plaza? So what I was talking about was not really street level kiosks but something bolder and bigger.
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Yes. I remember that render!
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Could this rendering become closer to the Duke center for the Peforming arts, like by the parking lot is located, transform that area into something like in the rendering shown. It sure would expand city plaza a great deal.
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So I tried to sit on this and think about it for a bit… but sorry, I’m still not really following your line of thought.
I get that you’re suggesting a Times Square/Shibuya-y sort of prominent electronic billboard. That may be a good place for advertisements or some cheap, iconic camera shots, sure, but does this address Raleigh’s need to identify itself? (If so, could you explain how?)
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